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Nov 26, 2007

I went to the dentist this morning. I know, my life just keeps turning into one whirlwind adventure after another. I needed to have a tooth pulled. With the diabetes, and medications that cause dry mouth, my teeth are suffering a great deal. Anyhoo, the wonderful young dentist named Jennifer, said she could not treat my teeth as my insurance wouldn't cover fillings, but only extractions. Ok, that's all I wanted, anyway, an end to pain and torment. She referred me to an oral surgeon, who doesn't take my insurance. WTF?! I'm beginning to believe its a scam, or something, because she told three other patients the same thing before she saw me. (Yes, we were all old farts.)

The scam is the fact that she can charge my insurance for xrays, an office visit, and a consultation, without doing a damn thing. She was wearing high heels, for God's sake. My favorite dentist of all time jingled when he walked, a round tubby little man, that I loved dearly. He carried a key ring with about a million keys on it, so that is why he jingled. I often wondered if he was Santa working a second job.

So, right now, I have a dry mouth, a lot of pain, (she can't call in pain medicine because the insurance won't pay for it, or some such bullshit) and two teeth that are practically falling out of my mouth. I can't muster enough spit to drown a wimpy looking flea.

Ah, frustration, the game I hate to play. I guess I will have to go through the whole rigmarole again.

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My good friend Cee, who, for whatever reason loves to irritate the crap out of his girlfriend, said he thought he was going to cut his balls off, then his girlfriend might want to lie with him in the biblical sense. I said I would be glad to help, but he would have to be careful when he took off is drawers. She might just think his nose had gotten a little longer. And then she would really be able to tell when he was lying, as it would get longer.

I used to castrate pigs when I worked in swine production. We could do a whole room in an hour. That's about 100 pigs give or take a few. But, I gave that up a long time ago.

Moose, unfortunately the insurance I have is medicaid, as I am disabled. I cannot afford regular dental insurance, like I had at the swine farm, which was most excellent. I got 4 crowns out of that one, for about 200.00 us dollars..ha..

So medicaid doesn't care if your teeth fall out, but they have to be almost out, before they will cough up the money for an extraction. What disturbs me the most, and anyone else who has worked in healthcare, is that dental care is of the utmost importance. It should be covered by medicare. Everything you eat begins its digestion in the mouth, with teeth. Gums can work, but usually the food is pureed. Yum!

Good nutrition, and good digestion are paramount in remaining healthy. They should look at it as preventive care for all health problems.

Having good teeth may be the difference between consuming a well balanced meal, and a bowl of canned soup.

Sorry about the dentist thing. I have insurance, but it takes me three to four months to get an appointment and they are 200 miles away.

I am also a diabetic. I have not taken care of my teeth and have had hygene problems in the past, (I'm better now about showering and brushing, I am, really). The dentist loves to lecture me about brushing and flossing. I can take it. I'm alive.